Glenfinnan railway station

Glenfinnan
Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Fhionnainn
265px Facing west along the Down platform at Glenfinnan, showing railway station and museum entrance; November 2004
Location
Place	Glenfinnan
Local authority	Highland
Coordinates
Grid reference	NM898809
Operations
Station code	GLF
Managed by	Abellio ScotRail
Number of platforms	2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2002/03	3,667
2004/05	3,853
2005/06	4,584
2006/07	5,420
2007/08	5,307
2008/09	5,750
2009/10	6,682
2010/11	7,402
2011/12	7,172
2012/13	8,246
2013/14	7,736
History
Original company	Mallaig Extension Railway of West Highland Railway
Pre-grouping	North British Railway
Post-grouping	LNER
1 April 1901	Station opened
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Glenfinnan from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Glenfinnan railway station is a railway station serving the village of Glenfinnan in the Highland Council Area of Scotland. It is on the West Highland Line. Glenfinnan Viaduct is about one kilometre to the east of the station.

History

Glenfinnan station opened on 1 April 1901. The station has two platforms, one on either side of a crossing loop. There are sidings on the south side of the station.

The station was extensively refurbished in summer 2007.

Services

Glenfinnan is visited by "The Jacobite" steam trains in summer, and regular trains throughout the year.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Locheilside		Abellio ScotRail West Highland Line		Lochailort
Fort William		West Coast Railway Company The Jacobite May–October		Arisaig
	Historical railways
Locheilside Line and Station open		North British Railway Mallaig Extension Railway of West Highland Railway		Lochailort Line and Station open

Signalling

File:Glenfinnan signal box.jpg

Glenfinnan signal box

From its opening in 1901 the Mallaig Extension Railway was worked throughout by the electric token system. Glenfinnan signal box, which had 15 levers, was at the east end of the Down platform, on the south side of the line.

On 13 November 1983, the method of working from Glenfinnan to Mallaig became One Train Working (with train staff). Electric token block was reinstated to Arisaig on 29 April 1984, but One Train Working continued to be used when Arisaig token station was switched out. The Arisaig - Mallaig train staff would then be padlocked to the Glenfinnan - Arisaig key token.

Glenfinnan lost its semaphore signals on 13 April 1986, in preparation for Radio Electronic Token Block (RETB) signalling. RETB was commissioned between Mallaig Junction (now 'Fort William Junction') and Mallaig on 6 December 1987. This resulted in the closure of Glenfinnan signal box (amongst others). The RETB is controlled from a Signalling Centre at Banavie railway station.

The Train Protection & Warning System was installed in 2003.

Glenfinnan Station Museum

The Glenfinnan Station Museum is located in the station building, on the Down platform. The museum's exhibits focus on the construction, impact and operation of the Mallaig Extension Railway in the late 19th century. The restored booking office includes the original tablet instruments and, again since early 2012, various artefacts specific to the local area. There is also a changing exhibition of railway photography and a gift shop. The museum is open seasonally.

During 2011 and early 2012, the entire Museum site underwent extensive refurbishment. This included major work to the Original Signal Box; a new external staircase, repairs to cladding and a reference theatre/teaching space installed. The main station building underwent alterations to meet current access requirements and new weather proofing on the roof.

Ongoing work includes rebuilding the link path between the Station and Glenfinnan Viaduct, site of filming for several Harry Potter films, and expansion of the museum archives.

References

Sources

• RAILSCOT on Mallaig Extension Railway

External links

• Glenfinnan Station Museum - official site